Mermaid

We celebrated a 4 month birthday today :) And since we were thrilled that neither of us have dropped, burned, stepped on or elbowed Pippa, we decided the only thing to do was to try our hand at failing to submerge her in chlorinated water.

She loved the water and splashed about a bit. The photos below document the experience well. So for the word nerds here is a short story that sums up her emerging personality.

Even though Skip and I did all the work when we went swimming I expected Pippa to be worn out. I recently implemented a 9 p.m. bedtime and have loved the routine. As nine came and went I threw my hands in the air despairingly.

"We must get some ice cream from the shack on the corner," cried my bone-weary self.

As much as I welcomed sleep, Pippa fought it and only a chocolate-covered cherry frozen treat could console me. I later regretted this decision for many reasons, one that I screwed up my bedtime routine. That five minute trip cost me an extra hour of bouncing, rocking, rubbing, swinging and singing. In a dark room, on a dark bed I cuddle Pippa and struggled to find one more lullaby. When my memory failed me I launched into the eleventh round of "You are my sunshine..."By then it seemed Pippa's kicking and arm flailing beat in time with my broken record.

I stopped singing because my throat hurt from the soft tone I was using and because it wasn't working. I took a couple deep breaths and told Pippa that when she was older, she'd wished she'd had this extra hour of sleep. Then I dramatically threw my arm over my eyes. I felt a final move to my left then silence. I lifted one eyelid and swallowed a giggle. Pippa had thrown her arm over her eyes in mirror to me and promptly fell asleep. Stubborn but smart. I think she just might live another month.